Lovers & Friends: Silver, #3

By Yara Gharios

After months of captivity, Silver ran away from the evil vamphyr that had turned and imprisoned her. Shedding her old identity, she went into hiding and spent years in training. Knowing full well that her old Master has been looking for her, she has been preparing herself for the day when she would go back to her old prison and carry out her revenge.

However, nothing in the world could have prepared Silver for the hybrid and the human that were forced into her life one day. The hybrid, Adam, could report her back to her old Master at any time, but their shared history puts them on the same side-for now. Tolerating the human, on the other hand, presents a huge challenge.

Bubbly, energetic, and raging with excitement about everything supernatural that she discovers, Theresa has the complete opposite reaction a normal human should have to the secret world of vamphyrs, werewolves, and skinwalkers. At first, Silver was intent on keeping the girl safe, since she made it her life's mission to protect humans. But the girl's overactive imagination and string of never ending questions are a constant headache and keep derailing Silver's plans.

Nevertheless, no matter how much Theresa pesters her, the one thing Silver will never reveal to anyone, least of all her two unwanted stowaways, is the secret behind her having silver pearls for eyes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yara Gharios
• Release date: May 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223338260

Yara Gharios

Lebanese writer Yara Gharios has been making up stories since she could remember. She started writing them down as early as 8 years old and migrated to writing complete, full-length novels by the time she was 11. Under the pen name Sahar Ghayar, she wrote several novels in her free time but didn’t actively pursue publishing them herself. By the time she was 19, she was active in the online reading community, Wattpad, through her trilogy “Masked SheWolf.” The series garnered enough attention for her to consider self-publishing, but it was years before she began to find enough success to continue writing full time. These days, she devotes most of her time to her writing, her cat, and her family (in no particular order).

Book preview

TIMELINE CHART

Day of capture

|

(1 year)

|

Day of escape

|

(7 years)

|

Now

CONTENT WARNING

This novella contains elements of sensitive

subjects and/or themes, such as:

Suicidal thoughts

Violence using fantasy magic

Toxic/abusive relationships

Gaslighting

Sexual and emotional abuse

CHAPTER ONE

Eight Years Ago

day of capture

Shiloh’s throat burned to the point of nausea. Her head felt like she’d been placed on an ever-looping rollercoaster and made to ride it round and round for hours.

If it weren’t for the fear coursing through her, she would have been disoriented, but as it were, she knew exactly where she was—or rather, what situation she was in.

What she didn’t know was who was talking to her.

Hey, are you doing okay over there? a girl called out. Can you hear me?

It was a struggle placing the voice. She didn’t sound like Grace, though Shiloh was mostly basing her assumption on the fact that the redhead wouldn’t show concern like that. Whatever Grace was, whatever sinister thing she wanted from Shiloh, she already had her trapped. There would be no point in pretending to care about her well-being, unless she was playing some sick game.

Come on, girlie, open your eyes, the mystery girl urged her desperately. We don’t have much time before she gets back.

Due to the nausea, Shiloh struggled to pull herself upright and slowly blinked. A face finally came into focus. The dark complexion and thick head of brown hair immediately confirmed that she wasn’t Shiloh’s kidnapper. The fact that this girl—or rather woman, since she seemed about a decade older than Shiloh—had her arms tied behind her back further confirmed that theory.

What—? Shiloh groaned. Who are you? Where’s Grace?

I’m Shauna, she hastily replied. Grace is outside. Now listen. We have to be quick. I’m gonna turn around so you can untie me, and then I’ll do the same for you, okay?

At that point, Shiloh finally noticed that she was in the same car she’d been in before Grace chloroformed her. Except now she was in the backseat with Shauna, and her wrists were tied in front of her. She didn’t have time to wonder why the two of them were restrained so differently—and sloppily—because that was when she noticed there was someone else in the car...

... someone with red hair.

Shiloh recoiled so violently, she hit her head on the roof of the car.

Whoa, hey, it’s okay, it’s fine, Shauna rushed to reassure her. She’s like us, don’t worry. But she’s still passed out, and we can’t help her while we’re all tied up, okay?

Shiloh’s heart kept racing. Her head hurt like crazy as she stared at the girl in the front seat. Upon closer inspection, she realized that the hair was a darker shade of red than Grace’s. That might have calmed her down, if not for the blood running down the side of the other girl’s neck.

Were those... puncture wounds?

Hey, girlie, what’s your name? Shauna had turned her back and was now staring at her over her shoulder.

I-I’m Shiloh.

Can I call you Shi? she asked patiently.

Uh, sure.

Great! Can you please get me out of these, Shi? I can’t do the same for you until I’m free.

Shaking her head, Shiloh forced herself to focus. Right, sorry. Um... it’s a zip lock.

It’s okay, I know how to get out of them. There’s a bunch of pins in my hair. Take one out, and I’ll tell you what to do.

As Shauna talked her through the process of breaking out of zip locks, Shiloh tried to steady her weak and shaky fingers. She slipped a few times on the first try and cried out in frustration.

It’s okay, you got this, Shauna encouraged. Just take a deep breath and try again.

Focusing on the other girl’s voice and words, Shiloh centered her emotions before trying again. On the third attempt, the strap finally came loose.

Great job! Your turn now.

Shiloh wondered how Shauna could stay so calm, but given how quickly she freed Shiloh’s wrists, perhaps she wasn’t wholly unfamiliar with this type of situation.

Okay, now, you be the lookout while I take care of her, Shauna said, gesturing to the girl in the front seat.

That was when the obvious thought finally came to Shiloh. Wait, why don’t we just call the police?

Grace threw away anything valuable we had on. Just keep an eye on her over there—she pointed to the window on her left side—and tell me when she makes a move.

Then, she promptly jumped over the gap in between the two front seats, leaving Shiloh room to take her place and stare out the window. They were on the side of a deserted road. It was nighttime outside, but Shiloh could see Grace’s form in the faint light of a cell phone, pacing about fifty feet away from the car. She was holding the phone out in front of her and was either arguing with the device itself or whoever she was on call with.

"Shit," Shauna suddenly hissed.

Shiloh barely heard it because Grace was now putting the phone back in her pocket.

She’s coming back, she hastily said. We have to hurry.

Take this.

She turned just as Shauna shoved into her palm what she assumed to be a triangle warning sign, folded and tucked away into a rectangular case which rattled in her hand. Meanwhile, Shauna herself had found a wrench somewhere in the car and was now holding it tightly in her fist.

First chance we get, we whack her over the head then take her keys and drive off, Shauna said. She’s a small girl... we can take her.

Shiloh recalled the moment she lost consciousness. She’d thought the same thing about Grace, yet the redhead had somehow pinned her down and overpowered her with inhuman strength.

But when she opened her mouth to say so, a figure suddenly appeared in the passenger side window. Before Shauna could turn around, the door was yanked open, and she instinctively flung her wrench in the direction of whoever was behind her. By the looks of the kid, he couldn’t have been older than fourteen or fifteen, which made it all the more surprising that he didn’t budge when the wrench bounced off his stomach. He glanced down at himself and smirked smugly at Shauna.

Tickles, he jeered. Then he grabbed her wrists and roughly pulled her out of the car.

Heart in her throat, Shiloh tried to jump to Shauna’s defense, but something yanked her from behind before she could move. Grace was back, dragging her out of the car with both arms. Shiloh swung the red case in her hand wildly around without ever hitting her mark, her heart hammering away in her chest.

Let go of me! she shouted. "No! Let me go! Help! Somebody help!"

The words went utterly unanswered, which brought her panic up to desperate levels. Nothing she tried to do to free herself of Grace’s vice-like grip had any effect whatsoever. Her makeshift weapon slipped out of her hand after a few swings. Planting her feet did nothing to slow the redhead down, and whenever she tripped, the latter simply dragged her along in whatever state she was in. One of her shoes was now missing, and her legs were scraped everywhere from all the times she fell.

Get your hands off me, you little shit! Shauna shouted.

Obviously, she was adopting